Justice
, at its base, means "to be just, fair". More commonly however, the meaning of justice is to punish a criminal that has done something wrong in a suitable manner that fits their crime. Justice Justice, in this sense, can be served to a criminal in many ways from time in prison to execution. The classic view of how a criminal should 'receive justice' is thought of as "an eye for an eye", which means if they have done something wrong, they deserve a punishment as great as the crime they committed. If a person murders someone, then according to this term, it means they themselves should face the death penalty as a suitable form of justice. Justice has been used many many times in the series; the CP9 use this term against Iceburg, the Marines use this term to catch pirates and criminals. Justice is used in an archetypal pattern often at times (e.g. someone would talk about doing things "In the name of justice"One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 11 Chapter 96 and Episode 45, justice is mentioned. or "ridding the world from evil"). Forms of justice are shown in the series. Marines may choose to display signs of Justice based on their own interpretations or opinions of the word "Justice". Some example of different opinion-based ideas on justice include Kuzan who declared he served a "Lazy Justice", Rob Lucci who claimed to serve a One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 44 Chapter 426 and Episode 308, Rob Lucci declares he his actions are in the name of Dark Justice. and Smoker who told Tashigi to create her own "personal justice". In the CP9 Mini series, Rob Lucci was seen to have done an "Excessive Justice" to the Candy Pirates. The extreme nature of his attack against them horrified the citizens that witnessed his strike.One Piece Manga - Vol. 53 Chapter 513 Cover Story, Rob Lucci attacks the Candy Pirates captain with great force. Doflamingo, though a former pirate and Shichibukai, is not without some opinion in regarding what is and isn't justice, but he himself doesn't seem to care for it. He truly believes justice is whoever is in charge deem it to be and regards the outcome of the Whitebeard and Marine War will have the right to say what is and isn't justice. A common theme is that corrupt members of Marines and CP9 often use Justice as justification for their actions, putting every inhumane thing they've done as a necessary evil to preserve peace to the world, this has often led people (most of them pirates) to react with disgust at their behavior. Justice in Practice is the belief that many Marines hold. The Marines follow a strict motto of "Absolute Justice", when it comes to prosecuting those who violate the government's laws. It is a central tenet of Marine doctrine, to the point where the word is emblazoned on the uniform coats of all commissioned officers. All individuals noted to have done illegal activities or criminal acts are reported to Marine HQ and issued bounties, based the known information on their threat level - regardless of the circumstances.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 11 Chapter 94 and Episode 43, Nezumi reports Monkey D. Luffy to the Marine HQ despite defeating Arlong and saving Nami's hometown, purely on the basis of injury to his pride.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 23 Chapter 212 and Episode 127, Smoker and Tashigi get rewarded for the efforts of the Straw Hat pirates against Crocodile and Baroque Works.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 41 Chapter 398 and Episode 278, Nico Robin is issued with a 79,000,000 bounty, even though she is just a mere child and survived a great loss, because she can read Poneglyphs. Anyone connected to criminals, no matter who they are, can be arrested even if they have not done anything.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 1 Chapter 7 and Episode 3 - "They're not gonna let you join if they look into your background."One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 1 Chapter 7 and Episode 3, Luffy beats Coby.One Piece Anime - Episodes 68-69, Coby is told by Helmeppo then later Monkey D. Garp to stop mentioning his friendship with Luffy. It is unknown why the World Government supports Absolute Justice as much as it does nor where the ideals centered around it originate from; however, Vice-Admiral Onigumo best described it as willing to sacrifice anything to defeat what is defined as "evil", though it does ensure that the majority of the world is held under the World Government's thumb effectively giving them absolute control of the world. Pirates have been especially singled out by the Marines as a major threat to order. They are considered criminals regardless of whether they have committed any crimes other than raising the Jolly Roger and any country caught harboring pirates can have further actions taken against them.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 23 Chapter 213 and Episode 128, the Marines demand Alabasta give up any criminals they have.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 18 Chapter 158 and Episode 94, Smoker's reason to arrest Ace.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 23 Chapter 216 and Episode 129, the Straw Hat Pirates give a silent good bye to Vivi to save her from being thought to be linked to them. Civilians, too, are targeted by the prohibition against piracy:One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 41 Chapter 397 and Episode 278, a ship of Ohara is destroyed on the possibility of a scholar may be on board. However, the truth is that only innocent people and not scholars were on board. persons known to have associated with pirates are barred from entering the Marines (there are notable exceptions), and providing aid or comfort to pirates is a serious crime, especially if they are well-known bounty heads. Success Rates Generally, most citizens do not have the desire to turn to criminal activity or aid criminals for the fear of the Marines punishments and may be quick to turn in criminals to avoid association with them as they fear they could be prosecuted for such an act. Captured criminals also often regret that they ever committed offenses as the punishment they face is often brutal and painful. Since they are targets by the law, the law in turn does not support them when they are in need and when they in trouble they have only themselves to get though the problem. Failures One of the ongoing themes of One Piece is the misapplication of the principle of "justice" by the Marines and other law enforcers. While the Marines wish to maintain law and order by apprehending criminals, the techniques that they (or at least some of the Marines) use can often be no better (or in some cases even worse) than the pirates they seek to wipe out, trampling the rights or needs of civilians in order to pursue its own ends. The failures so far of this rule have been proven constantly and in many cases led to the opposite happening of what they were intending. For example an unknown amount of women and children were slaughtered in their witch hunt for Roger's child. Rouge was aware of the child hunt and thus delayed childbirth as long as possible, Garp protected and adopted Ace after his birth as he promised to Roger.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 56 Chapter 551 and Episode 460, Rouge gives birth to Ace and dies soon after, with Garp taking Ace in. A whole ship of civilians were killed during the Ohara Incident in case one of the Ohara scholars slipped on board. Robin, the only scholar trying to board the ship, had been put off boarding the ship because of the civilians' hatred for her. When the ship was destroyed, Kuzan decided to help Robin escape after being disgusted by his fellow Vice-Admiral's actions, an irony in itself as Aokiji intended to end the life of Robin himself up until it happened. This form of justice also brings out the questionable Morals in some everyday citizens. With the prospect of gaining instant wealth by selling out Robin to the authorities, Robin encountered many close calls and betrayals while growing up. At Enies Lobby, shooting the ship of Marines led one to protest only to be shot at for his protests.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 44 Chapter 422 and Episode 305, Onigumo orders the attack and shoots a man dead for questioning the order. The target of the blasts was Luffy who Rob Lucci was fighting. However, the only target to be taken out was the ship itself and its crew and Luffy got off the ship without a problem. Thus the death of the crew and the soldier were directly a result of the Vice-Admiral's use of Absolute Justice. Thus, proving that, judging from their morally-questionable actions, the Marines are just as bad as, if not worse than, the enemies they fight. And it doesn't even end there, as the prison called Impel Down is designed to systematically torture the criminals every day of the rest of their lives for simply being pirates, something the jailers seem to find sadistic pleasure in doing. In some cases, the methods and procedures used by the officials can encourage Pirates and other criminals to appear, often those trying to seek power and fame via illegal means. Those who are already pirates also often feel empowerment from their own notoriety and gain a sense of freedom from the restraints of normal life having the power to do exactly as they please until the day they are caught or die. Exclusions In the end, due to the World Government's support of slavery (despite abolishing it 202 years ago, it still exists due to the World Nobles), any form of Justice that the Marine's claim to have starts to become somewhat hypocritical since slavery and its practices are ultimately the antithesis of justice. Or the fact that Justice doesn't apply to the rich, like the spoiled World Nobles is also a hypocrisy that sadly, most Marines and civilians don't seem to understand. Most note worthy of all, is though the World Government supports "Absolute Justice", they can also be renown for ignoring justice all together and the term can sometimes be as questionable as the morals that drive their opinion of 'Justice'. Because of all this the people who follow Absolute Justice can be seen just as bad, or even worse, than the criminals. Even after completing their goal during the war, the Marines refused to give up and continued fighting the pirates. Law Enforcers To enact "Justice" on the One Piece world, the law enforcement are split between the following groups. Police The are local defensive forces for everyday combat with common criminals. While the Marines maintain a high order of policing in the world, worldwide police officers are employed by the World Government to supervise local areas and arrest unlawful citizens. The duty of a police officer is to maintain law and order, however they only deal with local interests unlike the Marines who maintain a global presence across the world. They leave the task of capturing tough criminals to the Marines, but aid them where needed. So far they have only deployed in small numbers which sharply contrasts the scale of deployment of the Marines. Laffitte of the Blackbeard Pirates was said to have been a former policeman, however evidently his "Ultra Violent" ways caused him to be exiled from West Blue. The only other named policeman is Genzo of Cocoyasi Village. Bounty Hunters are people who make a living out of catching criminals for the bounty on their head. The reasons behind a bounty hunter doing their job is often mixed. Some are hunting down criminals just for money, others to bring them to justice their way and some for fame. Bounty Hunters also act independently from other established law enforcement groups and are free to roam as they please. They also have no fixed workings and some may hunt solo or with others. While they are sometimes no better than criminals themselves, they are left alone to hunt criminals so long as they don't break the law while doing so. Regardless, all criminals caught are handed into the Marines dead or alive. The most famous bounty hunters featured in the series were Roronoa Zoro, who worked against his will for monetary needs and eventually quit when he joined the Straw Hat Pirates, and Daz Bones, who made an infamous reputation in West Blue as "the killer". He quit to join the Baroque Works as Mr. 1, where he eventually fought and lost against Zoro. Apparently, a majority of the members of Baroque Works agents consist of bounty hunters but outside of Bones, those who previously worked as bounty hunters and those who did not is unknown. Shichibukai Though not law enforcers as such, they are used to prevent criminals raising up and gaining power. They themselves are "former" criminals, yet many still operate the same criminal activities they did as a pirate though with a few restrictions. Cipher Pol They are eight units of special police agents that act as intelligence agencies, as well as enforce the laws. A single unofficial unit, CP9, exists unknown to the majority of the world, and has the unique authority to kill any citizen that they deem to be a danger to the world. Marines They are the main and largest law enforcement organization of the entire world, and they are widespread throughout the entire sea. Punishments case.]] Punishment is the final effort of enforcing the rule of "Justice" in the One Piece World. The One Piece World has various punishments for crimes. Criminals who attain a bounty can risk bounty hunters chasing them, or in more serious cases Marines. Those in the Grand Line also can risk being taken by kidnapping groups and sold off. Marines who capture a criminal may hold onto them until they are taken to a more suitable prison, like Impel Down. Some will spend a brief moment here, but most will spend the remainder of their lives here, even dying in the extreme nature of Impel Down's levels while the worst criminals are placed on the very low levels of Impel Down essentially they end up being "erased" from historical record. For those who are deemed too much, they are publicly executed and made an example of in order to deter others from doing activities similar to what they did. The most popular method of execution seen in the One Piece world was used on Gol D. Roger, Montblanc Noland, and Portgas D. Ace. It involves placing a criminal on a high execution platform, above the heights of most individuals, usually in a high populated area where the normal citizens can see the criminal be punished. From here everyone can watch as two executioners decapicate the criminal with a long blade. Another, less spectacular, method is shooting by a firing squad. It seems to be used on less prominent criminals like Nugire Yainu who was executed under the name of Captain Kuro. Sometimes these punishments have to be enforced even on the law enforcers themselves. Policemen who abuse their position like Laffitte risk losing their position, and can even be banished from a particular area. In a more serious case, they can even be imprisoned and brought in as a criminal themselves. The most notable problem however is that the innocent can be punished by accident, although the authorities in the One Piece world seem to care little about this. The Just Eleven Jurymen in particular had a reputation for announcing any criminal who entered Enies Lobby as "guilty". The Jurymen themselves were criminals due for their own execution and had sworn to take as many criminals down with them.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 41 Chapter 390 and Episode 274, the history and state of position of the Jurymen as told by Baskerville. On top of this, the "3-headed" judge Baskerville would pronounce both verdicts of innocent (left head) and guilty (right head), but ultimate decide (with its middle head) that the criminal was to die anyway. Thus it would seem to make sure no criminal escaped the authorities would turn to killing even the innocents, which diminishes the point of punishing criminals in the first place. Judges Judges serve an important purpose in the speedy and organised trial of a criminal. The Judge is arguably the most important person to law enforcement as he is the final declaration on a Criminals punishment. On the word of "Guilty" or "Innocent" a criminal can either walk free or be sent to serve for their crimes. Though Marines follow the rule of "Absolute Justice", a Judge may refrain from such extremities. Demonstrations of this have included Jango's pardon, Tom's allowance to have time to build the Sea Train and Baskerville's three heads calling out different verdicts on a criminal (but ultimately declaring them guilty anyway). Stable Courthouse Judges These Judges work in explicitly marked courthouses in one single place: * Baskerville * Marine Headquarters Judges Judicial Ship Judges These Judges travel on board of Judicial ships and may judge a person anywhere. * Predecessor Judge Jurors * Just Eleven Jurymen Translation and Dub Issues Although the original version of the anime, Gol D. Roger was executed by stabbing, in the 4Kids dub Gol. D Roger was "hung" at the "Roguetown" gallows;One Piece Mnime, 4Kids dub - One Piece introduction "before he was hung from the gallows, these were his final words..." and in the English-language manga it says the Marines "lopped off his head" (decapitated him). The original Japanese manga never reveals precisely how he was executed (though it depicts the scene) but it remains to be seen whether this will become an important plot point in the future, or if it was simply a way of lessening the visceral impact of the character's death. Trivia * Though extreme, the act of punishing those who have anything to do with piracy was also common in the real world, hence why many pirates used nicknames or epithets to protect those around them.Note about piracy and those related to pirates *Killing babies who have criminal parents or a criminal parent is considered a form of eugenics and at the height of the eugenics movement, there were instances where criminals were prevented from having children. References Site Navigation Category:Society and Culture